Landing on another planet
All of the travellers we spoke to who had already done the Atacama Desert crossing (between Bolivia & Chile), insisted that it shouldn’t be missed.
We had omitted it from our original itinerary because the English speaking tours were so expensive compared to the Spanish ones and STA travel suggested that it would be difficult for us as non-Spanish speakers to take the Spanish tour. Nonetheless, we continued to wonder what was so special about it. So after more research, a number of itinerary changes and some serious budget discussions, our curiosity (and fear of missing out) won out and we committed ourselves to the Spanish speaking crossing tour.
We were in Santiago (Chile) so our new plan was a flight to Calama (Northern Chile) and then take a transfer to San Pedro de Atacama, where our tour would start from.
The flight from Santiago to Calama was a tour in itself, and in between naps as a result of a very boozy night out with our couch surfing host, we captured glimpses of simply breathtaking views of the Andes.
Before doing the crossing, Navid had questioned what was so special about it. It’s just a desert isn’t it? But even he admits he was so wrong! This has got to be the most epic tour we have done since we started travelling, in terms of its unique landscape.
Our starting point, San Pedro de Atacama, is an interesting desert side town (rather than beach side). It is a peculiar place with lots of quirky “desert chic” buildings and people. As we took our transfer to this town, it felt like we had landed on another planet, the landscape was so surreal.
You can certainly spend a couple of days here, taking the various excursions and enjoying the restaurants. We made the most of our one night there by going Star-gazing at midnight. With minimal light pollution, this is a popular activity here. We spent three hours on our star-gazing tour and even Laura became a sky-geek for the night, choosing her favourite star and studying the moon. The experience added more mystical character to this place.
After all of four hours sleep, we were picked up by our tour early the next morning. Our first stop was the Chilean border control. There were lots of similar tour jeeps waiting patiently for the office to open and then it was go, go, go as we all rushed to be first in line to cross the border and start our tour.
Next stop, the Bolivian border control! After multiple forms to fill in all asking for the same information, we finally get our stamp into the country. Now time for a quick bathroom break before breakfast. We had to pay $1 for the privilege and in exchange the ‘toilet reception’ gave us two very small sheets of very thin toilet paper (which wouldn’t have been enough for a very small fly). We then proceeded to queue for 15 minutes.
Once in the toilet cubical (if you could call it that) it became quickly apparent that the flush didn’t work. It’s a no go. What a waste of money! As if the disappointment wasn’t enough, there was a sign next to the toilet reception labelled “TIPS”, which certainly added more salt to the wound. This was the day that Navid decided never to pay for using the toilet again and became an ‘alfresco’ convert. He was a man on a mission after that. The sign for “TIPS” must have pushed him over the edge…
The first day in the Atacama desert was just extraordinary. We would drive for miles and then out of nowhere a beautiful colourful lagoon would appear, often scattered with colonies of beautiful Flamingos glistening on its surface. The backdrop of the mountains and volcanoes in the distance were like solid structured rainbows that you could touch. After the first day we started to reflect on how could a barren, dry place like this contain so much beauty?
On the second day we continued to visit more Lagoons and Flamingos as well as the famous Gizas bubbling on the surface of the ground and other wildlife. The Atacama desert really does make you feel like you are on a different planet. Star Wars was filmed around in this area and you could clearly see why.
Both nights we stayed in small basic hotels used to cater for such tours. These little villages would appear out of nowhere on the horizon and were so cut off from civilisation. It was remarkable to us that people lived here.
We shared our tour jeep with a lovely family of four and on the second night we shared a meal and (many) bottles of wine with them at a hotel made of salt. The floor of the hotel was sandy with salt and it was like being on a beach!
That night our driver, Victor, informed us that we would need to get up really early and be ready to leave at 4.15am to see the sunrise on the salt flats. After socialising, we went to bed at midnight. That morning we woke up with a slight hangover (although we blamed the altitude!) but were really looking forward to seeing the sunrise. There was one issue…it’s was 4am and Victor was nowhere to be seen! The clock hit 4.15am and the other jeeps carrying the other tours started to leave one by one until our empty jeep, without Victor, was the only one left. Where was he? Had he slept in?
The hotel owner did not know where he was, nor did the other drivers so we started a mini search party in our hotel – us, the family and the hotel staff started knocking on every single door of the hotel whilst gently calling the driver’s name “Victor” “Victor”. Nothing.
Time was ticking by and it was now nearing 5am and then one of the hotel staff suggested that Victor could be staying in another place. She opened her what’s app, searched for a lady’s name and messaged her. Laura could see the picture of the lady and I was reliably informed that she was pretty young thing… Shortly after sending the message she received a response and off she went in a car to collect him! Victor you dirty dog! They came back within a few minutes and Victor hurriedly placed our bags on the jeep and then we were off!
At this point we had written off the sunrise view as it was starting to get lighter but for some reason Victor was driving like a Formula 1 driver as he thought he could get us to the spot on time. We were disappointed but now our lives were in danger! We were in seats in the boot of the jeep and we were clinging on for dear life to each other as we bounced over the gravel road.
After about 45 minutes of frantic driving we reached our spot. Victor had driven so quickly we were now only about 15 minutes later than originally planned so we could still get a great view of the sunrise on the flats. It was simply stunning!
Once we took pictures of the beautiful sunrise we were off to the well documented Salar De Uyuni Salt Flats. Here we were able to take some awesome pictures and inventive with perspective shots!
We continually feel so lucky for the experiences we are having as we travel and this was certainly no exception.
